


Between the Wars

by AlistairsCheeseplate



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/F, Gen, Post-Blight, canon adjacent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-19 02:15:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20323420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlistairsCheeseplate/pseuds/AlistairsCheeseplate
Summary: The tales of what alienage war hero Kallian Tabris and her lover, Leliana got up to between the Fifth Blight and the Mage Rebellion.





	1. What Has Gone Before

# What has Gone Before

Kallian Tabris had her wedding ruined when she, her fiancé Nelaros, and several wedding guests were press-ganged to work as servants and craftfolk for the soldiers the arl of Denerim was sending to the army fighting darkspawn in the Korcari Wilds. On the way to the camp at Ostagar, Nelaros tried to escape, but was killed trying to get to Kallian. Once at Ostagar, Kallian was given the task of serving as message-runner for the quartermaster in the king’s camp, and was delivering a requisition for healing supplies to the officer in charge of the Tower of Ishal when darkspawn began climbing out of its cellars, putting her in a situation that almost certainly would have killed her, were it not for the arrival of the Grey Wardens Alistair Theirin, Elissa Cousland, and Solana Amell. Making her way into the camp, she had to flee into the wilds once King Callian fell and Ostagar became overrun by the horde. A city girl from birth, she again would almost certainly have died if she hadn’t come across a Grey Warden scouting party sent out a few days before the battle under the command of the Dalish recruit Lyna Mahariel who helped Kallian get to Lothering once they realised that there was nothing they could do to save the troops at Ostagar.

Failing to find someone willing to give her a ride to Denerim, Kallian was found sleeping in the chantry garden by an affirmed named Leliana, who befriended her and allowed her to share the sister’s small room in the building, and when the reunited groups of warden recruits set out for Redcliffe along with an apostate mage, a qunari murderer, and Elissa Cousland’s mabari war hound, the two women joined them.

Following the events at Redcliffe, where Kallian was finally given weapons and allowed to defend herself, and Kinloch Hold, Kallian, Leliana, the dwarven warden Duran Aeducan, and a young circle mage named Neria Surana went in search for the Urn of Sacred Ashes, which they found after some complications involving a cult of heretical dragon worshippers, after which they spent a few weeks at Redcliffe, waiting for the other groups of their band to return from various tasks. During this wait, Kallian and Leliana realised they’d both fallen in love with the other woman, and they began a romantic relationship.

When the other Warden groups returned from rescuing some important papers and regalia of King Callian’s at Ostagar, and helping a merchant set up a base for them at Soldier’s Peak, Kallian and Leliana’s next task became scouting out Denerim alongside the wizard Wynne, the Antivan assassin Zevran Arainai, and the Warden Aedan Cousland. In the capital, the group failed at keeping a low profile as they fought a cabal of blood mages, as well as a group of Antivan Crows who disagreed with Zevran about his terms of employment. In addition to this, Kallian met an elf-blooded friend of her mother’s named Slim Couldry who recruited her into a string of thefts and burglaries aimed at the nobility as part of his revenge on them for the recent purge and shutting down of the alienage.

When the alienage was reopened shortly before the start of the Landsmeet, Kallian took Leliana, as well as the other elves of the recently arrived Wardens to see her family, only to discover that Tevinter slavers were using the disturbances of the recent months to capture and smuggle elves out of the city with the permission of Loghain. Fighting their way through the slavers’ compound, they arrived just in time to save Kallian’s father Cyrion, but the alienage’s hahren, Valendrian, had already been shipped off, and when Alistair, newly betrothed to Queen Anora, left to rally the armies gathered at Redcliffe, Kallian stayed behind to help her cousin Shianni restore normality to the alienage.

Normality was not to be however, and instead they and the other elves of the alienage were forced to defend their homes (successfully, with the aid of arriving-just-in-time Orzammar dwarven soldiers) against the darkspawn horde storming into Denerim in the final battle of the Blight.

After the archdemon was slain (by Aedan Cousland, who in turn was killed by a stray arrow as the darkspawn retreated), Alistair married Anora, Shianni was made Bann of the Denerim alienage, and those wardens who survived travelled to their new strongholds at Soldier’s Peak and Vigil’s Keep to lead the fight against the darkspawn remaining in Ferelden.

Initially, Kallian was meant to join the group at Soldier’s Peak as head of the castle’s servants, but when Leliana received a message that her old friend, Revered Mother Dorothea of the Valence Cloister wanted to speak to the bard, Kallian instead travelled to Orlais along with her lover, outwardly posing as Leliana’s lady’s maid.


	2. A Reunion and New Acquaintances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallian Tabris and Leliana arrives at the cloister at Valence to meet with Leliana's mentor, Revered Mother Dorothea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note on when I write Orlesian as French: While I intend to keep the text mostly in English, if someone is using Orlesian words during a conversation in another language, that will be written in French. Also if we're in Kallian's point of view, and someone uses an Orlesian word she hasn't learned yet.

# A Reunion and An Introduction

When a rather snooty-looking young sister ushered them into the presence of Revered Mother Dorothea and her attendants, Kallian was feeling a bit queasy, although she wasn’t sure if it was because of having barely eaten anything on the voyage from Denerim due to seasickness, or because she was nervous about meeting a woman Leliana clearly admired to the point of worship. Either way, she resolved to keep as pleasant an appearance she could manage in her travel-stained clothes, and do her best to fade into the background by remaining quiet and keeping her face downcast like the dutiful lady’s maid they’d decided she should pose as in Orlais.

Beaming at seeing the red-headed bard enter her office, the middle-aged woman seated at a writing desk in the middle of the room, spoke out in Orlesian, “Leliana! Oh, it’s so good to see you again! It must be at least four years since you left for Lothering.”

“That is so nice of you to say, Revered Mother,” Leliana said in a tone of voice Kallian had learned meant she was happy, but also nervous. Walking around the desk to kneel at Dorothea’s side, she continued, “and though I’m certain they distracted you from things far more important than the well-being of one remorseful lay-sister in a different country, the letters you sent in the meantime were a great help in finding my peace during the time there.”

“Very good to hear, and much as I wish I could be modest and say you’re incorrect, I have indeed busied myself with a great many things if import in the years since we last spoke,” was Dorothea’s reply, given with a quiet smile, and a hand held out for Leliana to take and place a kiss upon. With Leliana still holding her hand, Dorothea rose up, massaging her back with her free hand and waving a way another sister who’d entered the room with a tray of goblets and a bottle. “Of course, you’ve been more than busy yourself, Leliana, and I’d have to be as arrogant as a Tevinter magister to claim anything I’ve done in the past few years, or before for that matter, has been as important as helping to stop a Blight. And don’t think I intent to let you leave before you’ve given me and the sisters here a full accounting of the events over dinner.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Revered Mother,” Leliana replied in a light tone.

_Well,_ Kallian thought to herself, _at least we seem to be welcome._ Or Leliana was. She felt pretty certain that the looks she was receiving from the three attendants holding papers, quills, and impatient body stances were the same what’s-that-elf-doing-here looks she’d gotten used to whenever she’d had to deal nobles during the Blight. _You’re imagining things,_ she told herself, stifling an acid reflux rising in her throat. _So, definitely nerves, then._

Leading Leliana around the desk, Dorothea continued speaking, “I’m afraid that’s not why I asked you here, however. If you leave your luggage with your servant girl, Sister Hortensia will show her where your quarters are while I explain things in full in a more private setting.

Clearly taken aback by the speed at which the conversation had turned to business, Leliana hesitated a moment before responding, “of course, Revered Mother,” and turning to Kallian, switched to Ferelden, “did you understand the Revered Mother, Kallian?”

“Yes, my lady,” Kallian said, giving Leliana and the Revered Mother her best curtsy as they exited the room, presumably heading for Dorothea’s private quarters.

***

Kallian couldn’t really say anything else without giving their game away, and if it had been safe to do so, Leliana would have let her know beforehand, so she picked up their two bags of luggage and looked around to figure out which attendant Sister Hortensia was.

A young, cheery-looking sister with a round face quickly made that clear by pointing first at Kallian, then at herself, and finally out into the corridor while speaking very loud and slowly in a heavily accented Fereldan. “You, elf-girl, come with me, I’ll show you chamber of sleep.”

Hefting the travel-bags, Kallian followed the sister through a series of corridors and hallways to a wing of the cloister that seemed set aside for guests and visitors. Showing Kallian into a room that held a bed, a small desk with a mirror, a wash-basin, stool, and a clothes-chest, she pointed at the room in general. “Here room for Mademoiselle Leliana. Lay-sisters will bring water for wash and drink. Comprend? Pardon, you understand?”

Kallian had considered pretending not to understand Orlesian very well, but the sister’s accent was painful. “Je ne parle Orlesian well, Sister Hortense, mais je comprend bien enough,” she explained, treating the sister’s to what she hoped was a placating smile, and was rewarded with an amused chuckle, as Hortensia switched to Orlesian.

“Well, that’s good enough, then. You don’t have to worry about making your mistress’s bed until tomorrow morning, some lay-sisters will be here shortly with bed-linens and some straw and blankets for a pallet for you, little lapin, and they’ll make the bed while they’re at it. Once they’ve gone, I’ll leave the room o you, and you are to stay in it unless summoned by Mademoiselle Leliana, is that understood?

Kallian nodded, a little distracted by trying to figure out what ‘lapin’ meant. “Yes, Sister Hortensia.”

“Good. We serve dinner for the sisters and guests at eight bells, common-born affirmed and guests’ servants have theirs two hours later so you can attend your mistress while she eats. Since you just missed breakfast, and I understand you’ve come a long way, I can arrange for some fruit and bread to be brought here at midday.”

“That would be most kind of you, Sister Hortensia,” Kallian said, already fervently hoping that their stay at the cloister would be a very short one.

At that point, three sisters came in carrying bed-linens, as well as buckets of water for the wash basin, and a beaker of what looked like a very pale red wine with some spices to add to it. “If there’s anything you need, pull the rope hanging by the door, and one of the affirmed sisters will come and attend.” Sister Hortensia gave Kallian a stern look, “however, they are here to be closer to the Maker, so any frivolous requests will be most unappreciated, and will result in a talk from me to Mademoiselle Leliana, is that clear?”

“Very clear, Sister Hortensia. I’ll be as docile as a dormouse, I promise,” Kallian said, lifting her skirts to give the sister a curtsy.

Chuckling, Hortensia saw that the sisters had finished preparing the room, and made to leave. “In that case, I’ll go see about getting you those fruits, and you can settle in as you please, little lapin,” she said, giving Kallian a pat on the cheek and looking all motherly all of a sudden, before she turned around and left Kallian who sat down on the bed with a flounce as she heard the click of the room’s door being locked. _I sure hope they left the key in, or gave Leliana a spare,_ she thought to herself, and got up to unpack their clothes and washing utensils as she settled in to wait for Leliana to arrive and hopefully tell her they’d be gone the next day.

***

The moment the door to Dorothea’s private room closed, she turned around and gave Leliana a warm hug. “It is so good to see you again,” she said, “and I really do wish there were more time for reacquainting and reminiscences, but I’m afraid you’ll only be here for two or three days at most.”

Leliana, who’d returned the hug, freed herself from it and went over to a chair by the hearth at one of the walls, not sitting down in it until Dorothea had sunk down in one next to it, however. “This all sound most dire and portentous, Dorothea. First you write and ask me to make haste to Valence, and now I’m here I’m supposed to go haring off almost immediately. What is this all about?”

“Politics, I’m afraid,” was the response. “Politics, blood magic, and a grand cleric who is a bit too successful at finding and catching apostates.” Dorothea cleared her throat, and gestured to a cupboard next to the hearth. “There’s a tea-set and a jar of honey in there, if you would,” she said, before continuing. “I suppose you’re aware Divine Beatrix is getting on in years, Leliana.”

“I am,” Leliana said, standing up to prepare the tea as asked.

“What I wish no-one but me were aware of, is that I’m currently the person she would recommend as her successor. However, the Divine’s staff gossip just as much as Celene’s courtiers, so naturally there’s opposition to me brewing. Most potently around Grand Cleric Prudentia in Halamshiral in the Dales.”

Leliana couldn’t help it, what she’d just heard was so astounding that she found herself frozen still, like a character in a bad puppet theatre comedy piece. “You, the next Divine? That’s marvellous Dorothea!”

“If. I get chosen, and Prudentia is gathering enough support that that will not be a foregone conclusion. Which is why I need a good spy with experience of blood mages, and from one of the letters you sent during the Blight, that’s you, Leliana.” Leliana saw Dorothea turn to look at her, and finally managed to continue preparing the tea, filling the kettle and hanging it on a hook over the fire in the hearth to get the water boiling.

“I- I suppose so. But I had a mage, an Antivan crow, a grey warden, and the best thief in at least Denerim, if not all of Ferelden with me then. All I have now is Kallian.”

“So, the elf-maid’s this girl you told me about in your letters? Thought you looked a bit put out when she couldn’t join us. Pretty enough if you like them lithe, I guess. Are you very close?”

Leliana found herself blushing and studying her feet. “Very, very close.”

“Good. I’d have hated for Marjolaine to be the last person you were close to in that way. And is the servant bit just for show?”

“Thank you, and… it’s a bit fuzzy. It was her idea when we first arrived in Denerim. Apparently she’d been trying to go into service before the Blight, so it was a good ruse, but I also get the feeling she’s doesn’t mind having someone to answer to and help dress and such as long as she trusts them, so a lot of the time, it doesn’t feel like a ruse.”

“That’s interesting. I do hope you’ll never have to give her cause to distrust you then, but back to the topic at hand.” Dorothea smirked and brought out a paper she’d had stashed up her sleeve. “Like I said, Prudentia keeps reporting the elimination of apostate blood mages at a truly remarkable rate. Normally I’d have no issue with that brand of filth being rooted out, but as of the numbers I’ve been given here, I suspect a lot of these so-called apostates are really just villagers with some herblore or a bit more luck than is usual.” Grimacing, she added, “and, of course, if I’m right, it’ll be a severe blow to my main challenger for the Grand Cathedral, whether she’s behind it or just haven’t bothered to investigate her Templars close enough.

“Which is where I come in,” Leliana said.

“Which is where you come in. We’ve another guest who should be arriving in about an hour or so who works for Divine Beatrix and also thought these things seemed suspicious. I suggest we have our tea, and then you can freshen yourself up a bit, and we’ll meet here again in two hours.” Dorothea gestured at the tea-kettle where the water was now boiling nicely, and added with a wicked smile, “and you can even bring your pretty maid if you think she could have something useful to say.”

Leliana smiled back with a nod and poured the hot tea-water over the leaves in their cups. “Your will is my call to action, Revered Mother.”

***

Leliana had been a bit surprised to find that the room she was shown to after the talk with Dorothea was locked, albeit with the key left in the lock on the outside, but her wondering about it took a dead stop when she entered the room and was met by the sight of a sleeping Kallian who’d stripped down to just her smock and curled up on the bed with a small book abandoned next to her red-tressed head. Humming softly to herself, Leliana bent down to place a kiss on her lover’s forehead, while tenderly tracing the tip of her fingers along Kallian’s lower leg. “Wake up Kitten, or you’ll be keeping us both up all night.”

Bleary-eyed, Kallian looked up at her, seemingly a bit embarrassed at having dozed off. “Mmf… I’m sorry, Leliana, but they kept telling me I had to stay here and kept locking the door anyway, and only…” she scooted herself up into a sitting position, and pulled down the hem of her smock that had pulled up over her knees while she slept, then yawned widely and stretched her arms over head, looking absolutely adorable to Leliana’s eyes, “…only gave me this book to pass the time when I asked if they had something I could do, but it keeps using these high-faluting Orlesian words I can’t make heads or tails out of.”

Leliana picked up the book and looked at the cover, “‘Reflections on Divinity’ by Revered Mother Juliette? Oh ma pauvre Kallian.” Bending down she placed another kiss on Kallian’s cheek, “but we’re meeting Dorothea and a very important person from Val Royeaux in three bells time, so we should prepare to look our best. Which,” she said with a smirk at Kallian, “means I’ll need my lady’s maid to ask for some washing water so I’ll be nice and clean when you start helping me into my armour.”

Kallian returned the smirk, and went to the bell pull by the door to summon one of the lay-sisters. “Of course, mademoiselle. What should I wear, though? My armour’s a lot more shabby-looking than yours is.”

“Didn’t the king offer to have one made for you to wear when you spoke after the coronation?”

“Yes, but, erm, I said I’d rather he made sure the alienage walls were moved out a bit.”

Leliana giggled, “that sounds like you, chérie, but that’s fine. Apart from Dorothea, no-one knows you’re more than a maid, and we should probably keep it that way. Besides, I had something made for you in Denerim before I knew we would be travelling here. It’s in the red cloth parcel that was in my bag,” Leliana said, motioning to Kallian to go pick it up.

A knock on the door (that Leliana had left open) announced the arrival of an affirmed sister, “you rang, mademoiselle?” she said.

“Yes, I would like some washing water, Sister.”

“It will be here shortly, mademoiselle,” the sister said, and briskly walked off to get the water.

In the meantime, Kallian had retrieved the panel from the cloth-chest, but hadn’t opened it yet, instead she’d begun laying out the pieces of the drake-scale armour Leliana had gotten made after the events at Haven.

Leliana sighed, thinking that looking after someone else’s needs before her own, even in something small like getting dressed, was so typical of Kallian, and while it was a large part of why Leliana loved her, she sometimes wished her lover could be a little more selfish. “Go on,” she said, “take it out so I can see how you look in it.”

Pausing the task at hand, Kallian did as told, cutting the string around the parcel with her belt knife, and started to unravel its contents. First she unrolled a bright, sky-blue kirtle of finely woven cotton, followed by red-and-green bodice with a floral pattern, and two pairs of sturdy, starkly white wool stockings. Turning to look at Leliana with her elf-large green eyes wide in astonishment, she fingered the fine cloth of the kirtle, “you shouldn’t have. It’s… it’s too fine for me.”

“On the contrary Kitten,” Leliana said. “If I’d known we’d be going to Orlais, I’d have had them make it all in the thinnest white Highever cotton weave,” but it will have to do for your maid’s uniform until we get somewhere larger than Valence.”

If anything, Kallian looked even more astonished. “This is how servants are dressed in Orlais?” she asked. “Before the Blight, I could have traded this for the largest apartment in the whole alienage,” she continued, turning to look at the garments again, her delight in them more than apparent.

Leliana giggled softly at her lover’s surprise and delight. “Well, the nobles usually tries to have their servants wear at least one garment made out of silk, more if it’s a body-servant like a chamber maid or footman,” she explained, “and I suspect the style is terribly out of date since the tailor had never been anywhere near Val Royeaux in his life from what he told me. But put them on, chérie, let me see how– oh, here’s my washing water.”

Yes, of course Lel– mademoiselle,” Kallian said, the fact she nearly forgot to act the maid in front of strangers a clear sign of how taken by surprise she’d been by the quality of Leliana’s gift.

Soon, the lay-sisters had filled the wash-basin with water warm enough to wash in and left them alone again so Leliana wash the travel-muck off of herself, while Kallian put on her new clothes before combing out Leliana’s hair and redoing the braid she kept on the right side of her forehead, while the bard applied some cosmetics to her face, and then they both helped Leliana to put on the supple leathers of her armour.

They’d taken their time, with Leliana singing songs and telling a few short stories, so by the point she stomped her foot into her second boot, it was almost time for them to go to meet Dorothea again. However, Leliana remembered that there was one more part to her gift, so after some rooting around in her purse, she pulled out a two fingers wide choker of silken cloth in the same colour as Kallian’s new kirtle, and motioning for the elf to come close, she put it around her neck, fastening it with a small buckle at the back, and then leaned down to give Kallian a kiss on the mouth. “There, now we’re ready,” she said, and led her lover away to Dorothea’s apartments.

***

When Kallian and Leliana arrived at Revered Mother Dorothea’s quarters, there were two other people waiting outside, one a short-haired woman in her late twenties, wearing armour with a symbol on her surcoat that Kallian didn’t recognise, the other a slightly older bearded man in mage-robes of a rich blue colour. The woman took a step forward and bowed in greeting, “you must be Leliana,” she said, her eyes barely skipping over Kallian who had sunk into a deep curtsy, remembering Leliana’s mention of ‘a very important person from Val Royeaux.’

“I am,” Leliana responded. “And you must be Seeker Cassandra Pentaghast, that Revered Mother Dorothea said had come here from Val Royeaux to discuss certain matters with her and me.”

The woman, or seeker, whatever that was, nodded, and made a gesture at the man beside her, “and this is Enchanter Regalyan D’Marcall of the White Spire Circle, who has agreed to provide us with a mage perspective on things.”

The mage bowed solemnly, “Working with a hero of the Fifth Blight was not something I could turn down, or so Cassandra tells me.”

The last bit was met with a disgusted snort from Cassandra, “as if you hadn’t been pestering me to get away from the capital for months.” She then turned back to Leliana, “and may I ask who the elf girl is, Lady Leliana? Mother Dorothea didn’t mention her in any of the letters she’s sent while arranging our meeting.”

“She’s my maid, Kallian Tabris, from the alienage in Denerim. We met after the battle at Ostagar, when I took her in, and she’s been quite invaluable ever since. And I’m no lady. Mademoiselle will do just fine, or even just Leliana if we’re to work together.”

At that point, the door opened, and one of Dorothea’s attendant sisters showed them in, before leaving the room and closing the door behind them. Once in, Dorothea herself showed them to a smaller room behind the main receiving room, where four chairs had been placed in a circle around a table with five goblets and several scroll cases on it. “Let’s all take a seat, and perhaps Leliana’s little friend can bring us some refreshments from the table in the receiving room?”

Kallian looked at Leliana, who nodded at her to do as Dorothea asked, so she went to get what turned out to be a tray of small pastries on a tray, and a bottle of freshly pressed apple juice, and by the time she’d gotten everything in and served everyone at the table a pastry and filled their goblet, the conversation had already gotten past the bits Leliana had told her earlier in their room.

“Thank you, my child,” Dorothea paused to tell her, “be a good girl and stand by your mistress in case we want something fetched, and you may pour yourself some juice to drink in the meantime.”

“That’s very kind, Revered Mother,” Kallian said, gratefully pouring herself a drink before doing as she’d been instructed and placed herself behind Leliana.

Cassandra filled the silence that had appeared when Dorothea broke off the conversation to speak to Kallian, “so you want us to go to the Dales and see how the Templars under Grand Cleric Prudentia’s jurisdiction are so effective at finding these apostates, Revered Mother?”

“And in the meantime, Leliana will make a tour of the villages around Halamshiral to learn more about the people they’ve already found, but failed to take in alive,” Dorothea agreed. “I’ll admit I’ve never liked Prudentia. She’s too conservative and wrapped up in the grandeur of her position for me, but if we’re right about what these Templars are doing, I still hope she’s not involved.”

Cassandra nodded, “it’d be bad for the commoners’ view of the Chantry, if nothing else.

“And abroad some would use it as an example of typical so-called Orlesian corruption,” Leliana filled in.

“Quite,” Dorothea said, slamming a hand down on the table, making the goblets not currently held by someone, jump. “That’s the what dealt with. Now to the hows. Firstly, how will you get there? And second, how will you contact each other once there?”

The mage Regaylan was the first one to speak up. “Me and Cassandra have a Seeker-owned ship waiting in the rustic little harbour here. We’ll probably go from here to Port Reville, then to Lydes, and from there to Halamshiral.”

“And me and Kallian will also take ship for Port Reville, but from Val Royeaux, as we need to stock up on a few things we can’t get in Valence,” Leliana added.

“It pains me to say it,” Cassandra continued with a scowl, “but I don’t think we can trust any messages passed through Chantry or Templar hands to be certain to stay out of the Grand Cleric’s hands.”

“That’s not a great concern,” Leliana said. I know of some bankers in the region who like to keep discreet contacts with the merchants and craftsfolk they deal with. If we show a writ from the Divine, I’m sure they’ll agree to help us. My information may be a bit out of date since I’ve been in Ferelden for the last several years, but I’ll hand you a list before you leave.”

“That sounds acceptable,” Cassandra agreed.

“That’s settled then,” Dorothea said. “But before you all start getting ready for dinner, there’s one more thing. Turning to Kallian, she pointed at the receiving room, “please go and make absolutely sure no-one is trying to listen in on us. I doubt anyone would think to place spies in some out-of-the-way cloister, but some of the sisters here are quite inquisitive, I’m afraid.”

Kallian curtsied and went out to check the door, which was blessedly free of eavesdroppers, as she had no idea what a maid was supposed to do if she caught one. Returning to the smaller room, she reported the lack of spies or nosy sisters.

“Thank you child,” Dorothea said, and turned to the three others again. “As Leliana knows, and Seeker Pentaghast too, I have no doubt, I have a bit of a worldly past, and while some members of the Chantry have looked askance at me for this, Most Holy Divine Beatrix considered it an asset, and gave me the task of running the Chantry’s intelligencers. Through this position, I’ve learned that there’s something stirring in Tevinter that has even the Archon worried. Tevinter means mages, and we know their mages are always interested in old magic, of which there is plenty in The Dales. So please keep an eye out for any peculiar foreigners you may come across while travelling the area.

All three of them expressed their assent with a “yes, Revered Mother,” and stood up, waiting to be excused.

“You may leave,” Dorothea told them. “But perhaps you’ll have dinner here, Leliana? I find myself in need for a quiet meal with a good friend. And since your maid seems competent enough, we can have the kitchen send up our food here, and she can serve it. I suspect she’ll rather prefer not having to wait for every sister to leave the dining hall before getting to eat, isn’t that so, child?”

“I– I suppose so, Revered Mother,” Kallian replied.

“In that case, we’ll remain here with you, Revered Mother, Leliana decided.

“And we’ll go do whatever there is to do in a cloister,” Regaylan said, winking at Cassandra, who rolled her eyes at him, but didn’t say anything, only bowed to Leliana and Dorothea before following Regaylan out of the quarters.


End file.
